Chapter 25

Ahmed sat very still. There was a bag over his head. It wasn't so thick that he couldn't breathe through it, but it was stuffy. Plus, his hands were tied behind him. He'd been sitting on this chair for a long time, listening to his captors speaking in low voices. Not any dialect of Arabic. Not English. Not French. Not Spanish. In fact, he had no idea what language was being spoken. It was definitely not one he'd heard before.

He knew why he was likely in this situation. It was because of Tim. He was torn between anger at being dragged into Tim's chaos and fear of what that would lead to for him. They hadn't hurt him. Yet. But they had not hesitated to kill the agent who had been in his apartment with him. In spite of the frequent chaos in his world, he'd actually never seen someone killed before. It had been shocking. So shocking that he hadn't even been able to decide what to do. Then, three men had grabbed him, hooded him and bound him before he could think of how to react and what would be the best to do.

But what did they want from him? He had no idea where Tim and Zahara had gone, nor how they got away.

Then, there were soft footsteps approaching him. Otherwise, it was silent. Completely and utterly silent. The footsteps stopped very close to him and whoever was there seemed to be just waiting for something to happen. Somehow, Ahmed got the feeling that making any sound would be unwelcome.

So he sat there. Blind, bound, frightened.

Then, suddenly, there was movement again. Whoever was standing there grabbed the hood and yanked it back, pulling his head back painfully and rocking the chair on which he was sitting. For a moment, he thought it would fall to the ground but then, there was a voice whispering in his ear. It was thickly accented English, and Ahmed had to strain to hear and understand it, but he guessed that asking for repetition would not be the best idea.

"Where is Tim McGee?"

"I do not know," Ahmed whispered. "I was not with them when they fled. What do you want?"

"Tim McGee. Where is he? Where have they gone?"

"I do not know," Ahmed said again.

"We will find out if you are lying to us."

He felt a piece of sharp and cold metal move across his neck. He forced himself to say nothing more and he closed his eyes in anticipation of death. But the knife disappeared.

Then, out of the darkness, he felt intense pain as the knife stabbed into his calf muscle. He screamed as the knife was yanked out and hot blood soaked his pant leg.

"You will not die yet. No matter how you scream. You will tell us what we want to know or you will be our message. It is your choice."

Ahmed trembled with the pain and his voice shook as he spoke.

"I do not know... where they are. I was not with them when they fled."

"We shall see."

The bleeding was stopped and Ahmed was left alone with the pain.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim was lying on the blanket, waiting to hear that he could finally get off this boat. He knew he'd been a source of amusement for the crew. He didn't care. He just wanted to be on solid ground, to escape from the incessant rocking. It was after dark. They should be getting off soon. ...if he was right about what people had been telling him. Part of him thought he should just man up and try to ignore his nausea. However, most of him was just wanting to stay still and not move until he absolutely had to.

"Tim?"

Tim opened his eyes and looked up at Suhayl.

"Time to go?" he asked, hopefully.

Suhayl almost smiled. "Yes. It is time to go."

"Oh, good," Tim said and sat up and then groaned as his stomach roiled.

"I have never seen someone so troubled by a boat."

"Yeah. You never saw me on a boat before. There's something good about the desert. No waves."

Suhayl put out his hand. Tim took it and let Suhayl pull him to his feet. He stumbled a little bit but then at least managed to be upright. Suhayl supported him a little bit, although Tim did most of the walking himself. The ship moved slowly up and down. Up and down. Tim swallowed heavily.

"Do you have anything left to remove from your stomach?" Suhayl asked.

"I doubt it. That might not matter."

"Baba, are you still sick?" Salma asked.

"Yeah, but I'll be fine once we get on land, Salma," Tim said. "Now, let's get off this ship."

They walked over to the railing. The captain of the ship was there. Tim looked at him and tried to smile a little bit.

"Shokran," he said and put out his hand.

The captain's eyes widened slightly but then, he shook Tim's hand.

"Adaa mudan," he said.

Tim looked at the ladder he had to climb down and then down at Omar who was already in the waiting boat. He took a deep breath.

"One more ride," he said.

"Yes. Camels seem good after this?" Suhayl asked.

Tim laughed. "I think so. The only kind of ship that hasn't made me sick."

Zahara kissed Tim on the cheek and then climbed down the ladder first. Then, Salma carefully climbed down. Tim wasn't sure it was a good idea for him to be carrying Jonathan. He looked at his son.

"Jonathan, can you let Suhayl help you down into the boat?"

"You sick, Baba?" Jonathan asked.

"A little. I don't want to throw up on you. That would be yucky."

Jonathan giggled. "Yucky!"

"Suhayl?" Tim asked.

"Of course."

Tim climbed down the ladder into the boat. Zahara forced him to sit while she stood waiting for Suhayl to climb down. Suhayl was as surefooted on a boat as he was everywhere else. Tim was envious as he got into the boat and gave Jonathan to Zahara. But there was no conversation as the boat sped toward the shore. They got off the boat on an empty shore and, as unsteady as he'd been on the ship, Tim was now equally unsteady as he tried to readjust to being on land. Omar steadied him and helped him to a patch of warm sand. Tim sat with a thump and reveled in not moving. Salma and Jonathan both ran over to him.

"Are you better now, Baba?" Salma asked.

"Better, Baba?" Jonathan echoed.

"I will be in a few minutes," Tim said. "Just let me relax a little while they get everything out of the boat."

And it was true. The longer he was on the unmoving land, the better he felt. He didn't want to, but he let Omar, Suhayl and Zahara get their things out of the boat while he just sat where he was, breathing deeply, with Jonathan on his lap and Salma leaning on his arm. After a couple of minutes, Suhayl was walking over.

"Are you ready to begin walking?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I can guarantee I won't be as fast to start."

"That is not necessary, and we will not be walking the whole way, but we must walk to where we will meet one of al-Hurram. They will take us home."

Tim urged Jonathan off his lap and let Suhayl pull him to his feet.

"I know you've already said so, but are you sure it's okay to bring us there, Suhayl?" Tim asked. "The last thing I want is for your family or anyone in your group to be in danger from me."

"You need a place to be safe until we can get you safely home," Suhayl said. "It is unlikely they will even think of the Rub' al-Khali as a destination." He smiled. "Even in Saudi Arabia, few would. Because of the nature of those after you, I do not think you should attempt to fly home on a normal plane. You need to have a private plane as you did before."

Tim nodded. "All right."

"You put no one in danger, Tim," Suhayl said. "It is those after you who do that. Come. We should not linger."

Tim nodded again.

"We will not walk far, al-sighār," Suhyal said to the children. "But we must walk. Then, you may sleep in the truck."

Salma nodded enthusiastically.

"I ride on your shoulders, Suhayl? Like Ahmed?" Jonathan asked.

To Tim's surprise, Suhayl smiled at the question but he shook his head.

"No, I must be watching."

Then, in a smooth motion, Suhayl swept Jonathan off the ground and deposited him on Tim's shoulders. Jonathan laughed with delight.

"Your baba is better for this task."

"Maybe not for long," Tim said.

"You not sick, Baba?" Jonathan asked.

"No, I'm fine now."

With Suhayl in the lead and Omar behind, they set off once more. Salma was walking beside Zahara, holding tightly to the robe Zahara wore. Tim had Jonathan on his shoulders. For now, the children weren't afraid. Salma knew that there was more going on, but she wasn't frightened. Jonathan didn't understand why the trip had changed but he was accepting it as children often could. So long as it was possible, Tim hoped that this would stay the way it was. He didn't want his children to suffer because of the life their father led.

They set off from the shore inland. It looked like the desert already. It seemed empty although there was a faint glow to the north that was probably a city of some sort. Still, right where they were, it was barren and empty.

They walked without talking much for a couple of miles and then, there was a road in view. Tim suddenly stopped.

"What is it, Tim?" Zahara asked.

Suhayl turned to them and waited silently for an explanation.

"Suhayl, how much active danger do you think we're in at this exact moment?" Tim asked. "Omar?"

"I don't know where we are," he said. "You don't know where we are. I'm trusting that you trust Suhayl. I can't imagine that anyone would realize where we are right at this moment. How long that will stay the case, I can't say."

"Suhayl?"

"I agree. At this moment, there is probably very little danger. Why?"

"I need to make a call while we're in a place that has some kind of possible cell service. That glow to the north is a city, right?"

"Yes. Thuwal."

"Are we safe enough that I can make a short call?"

"How short?"

"Less than two minutes."

Suhayl was silent as he considered.

"You will give them no locations?" he asked.

"None," Tim said and looked at Omar.

"There's a slight risk, I'd say, but not much more," Omar said.

"Okay."

Tim lifted Jonathan off his shoulders and fished his phone out of his pocket. This might be the only chance he had to contact anyone back home. He turned it on and was relieved to see that there was service, but it wasn't a strong signal. Nothing to do but try and hope.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Levi was sitting out in the yard, trying to enjoy the day and not think about the fact that Gibbs was in his house. He knew that Tamara wasn't thrilled about it either, but neither of them could say that Gibbs was an overbearing guest. In fact, he rarely emerged from the spare room.

Even so, it wasn't exactly ideal, and the open-ended nature of it was such that Levi was prepared to suggest that Gibbs go back to his home and, if necessary, Levi would stay there, just to give Tamara a break.

Suddenly, his phone started ringing. He looked at it and his eyes widened. Knowing that this call would likely be short, he stood and walked into the house.

"Agent Gibbs."

The door to the spare room opened and Gibbs strode out quickly. Not even a word of questioning what was going on. He knew. Levi answered and put the phone on speaker.

"Levi."

"You're all right, Tim?" Levi asked.

"For now." There was some garbling but it wasn't too bad. Wherever they were had cell service that was somewhat reliable.

"Where are you?" Gibbs asked.

"Boss... What's going on?" Tim asked, obviously startled by Gibbs' voice.

"Guess."

"Why?"

"To talk to you."

There was a pause.

"Thanks, Boss," Tim said, his voice a little soft. "Anyway, I can't tell you where we are. It's not safe. I do have a few friends out here. I can't stay on for much longer. Anything you can tell me?"

Levi looked at Gibbs and raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"They're looking for you. On site."

"I knew they would. I wish we could have stayed."

"You're all together?" Levi asked.

"Yes. All of us."

There was a muffled voice, too low to identify.

"All right. We've got to get moving again. It was good to hear from you, Boss. I didn't expect it."

"Until you're safe," Gibbs said.

"Thanks. ...but I'm sorry, Levi."

Levi couldn't help but look at Gibbs and smile a little. Gibbs smiled back, albeit unwillingly.

"Ma'a salāma," Tim said and then disconnected.

Levi took the phone off speaker. Then, he looked at Gibbs.

"There's someone with them. Someone beyond family," he said.

"Someone who speaks Arabic," Gibbs added.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Tim doesn't really speak Arabic, but he tried to... after saying that they were all together."

"What friends does he have there?"

"Daniel Worthing in Morocco," Gibbs said.

Levi shook his head instantly. "No. Tim wasn't saying here as in generally in the Eastern hemisphere. He was saying he has friends where he currently is."

"Suhayl and the bedouins."

"A few friends," Levi mused, nodding. "I think you're right. Then, they've left Egypt completely and are in Saudi Arabia. That has to be due to Suhayl. I doubt Tim would think of running that far."

"He's run farther."

"But why not the U.S. consulate in Cairo? Why not the airport? Whoever is trying to get him..."

"It's bigger than just one group trying to get him," Gibbs said.

"Who would be able to keep them from both the airport and the consulate?"

"An unfriendly power?"

"Possible. There's no end to the potential for what Tim could do... and Roy did say that there had been a group out of Russia trying to get him a few years ago."

"Russia?" Gibbs asked.

Levi nodded slowly. "That would explain how stealthily they've worked. They waited until Tim was off U.S. soil and in a place that has had its share of instability over the last few years. If this is actually sanctioned by the Russian government, they're not going to want that to be known to the U.S. It's really asking for trouble."

"Wouldn't be the first time they've done something shady," Gibbs said.

"No, but this isn't just shady. This is literally abducting a U.S. citizen and his family. What they do to their own citizens is one thing. What they do to Americans is a whole other ball of wax. They'd be pushing buttons that they shouldn't push and they know it. ...if that's who's doing this."

"How do we find them? We had a hard time before."

"It was a shamal last time," Levi said. "But I concede the problem. We may be able to solve it in the same way... but just finding him won't fix everything."

"It never does," Gibbs said grimly. "Never has and never will. Doesn't change the fact that we need to find them and get them back here."

Levi considered Gibbs' manner. He wasn't acting like a retired agent. He was acting like an active NCIS agent, ready to run off and save the day. Was it worth needling him? Probably not.

"Agreed," he said. "So why don't we report to the people on site and see what they can do?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him and Levi just smiled. Showing nothing.

"Well, Agent Gibbs?"

There was a long pause.

"All right."

Gibbs pulled out his phone and made the call. Levi watched without saying a word. Getting Tim out of this was more important than being annoying.

And they might just be making a big step forward in doing that.